On one of the new Specialized Stumpjumper 2009's the Elixir R's SL are mounted in shiny black with carbon lever. Looks beter than the retail version in silver, and better than the CR's - personally I would go for the Elixir R's in black, as the contact adjustment barrel spoils the looks of these brakes.

Elixirs have a more gradual engagement feel. I read in Dirt Rag mag that this is by design, due to the "taper" barrel cylinder. J7's feel snappy, either on or off, no spongy feel. Not noticing any more or less power thus far. Much easier to maintenance with the top pad insertion, nice.

I've had Juicy Seven's which suffered from fading on the slightest descend. Best brakes I've ever had were the Formula Oro Puro's 160/160, ridden many marathons with them, spent a week in the mountains in Austria, no fading, no problems at all. Truly awesome brakes!

But I have to admit the Elixir's are quite appealing and have caught my eye.

So far Elixirs are good

so far I'm happy with them. The power has increased dramatically over the last ride or two. It takes a good 4-5 rides to break the pads/rotors in.

Still getting rub on the front, can't seem to get descent pad to rotor gap. Rear's work great. Much of this is alignment. As anyone that has used Avid and their cps system, it takes some fiddling to get 'em aligned.

The reason I asked the prev post what is a "good" brake in his opinon, is that I haven't tried other brands of discs. The new Hayes look intriguing.

I've had Juicy Seven's which suffered from fading on the slightest descend. Best brakes I've ever had were the Formula Oro Puro's 160/160, ridden many marathons with them, spent a week in the mountains in Austria, no fading, no problems at all. Truly awesome brakes!

But I have to admit the Elixir's are quite appealing and have caught my eye.

Sounds like the brakes weren't set up correctly. Either the fluid was old and nasty, you had air in the system, or you needed to try a different pad compound.

Still getting rub on the front, can't seem to get descent pad to rotor gap. Rear's work great. Much of this is alignment. As anyone that has used Avid and their cps system, it takes some fiddling to get 'em aligned.

Sounds like the brakes weren't set up correctly. Either the fluid was old and nasty, you had air in the system, or you needed to try a different pad compound.

Brand new brakes? Don't think so. I'm a skilled mechanic, have all the right tools (torque wrench etc), assembled numerous bikes / brakes with no issues at all .. Just a poor design, read the reviews of the Juicy's on mtbr or plenty of other forum's, same conclusion over & over : crap ! Note : I had the polygon rotors. I contacted Avid, sent them some pictures and received back 2 sets of new brake pads, 2x 160 mm front disc and 1x a 180mm disc (sold the brakes right away). Service wise, excellent

But hey, perhaps the new ones will be better and I might give them a try although the Formula R1 is also very appealing and I still got a pair of brand new Magura Marta SL 2009's in box on my desk.

Brand new brakes? Don't think so. I'm a skilled mechanic, have all the right tools (torque wrench etc), assembled numerous bikes / brakes with no issues at all .. Just a poor design, read the reviews of the Juicy's on mtbr or plenty of other forum's, same conclusion over & over : crap ! Note : I had the polygon rotors. I contacted Avid, sent them some pictures and received back 2 sets of new brake pads, 2x 160 mm front disc and 1x a 180mm disc (sold the brakes right away). Service wise, excellent

But hey, perhaps the new ones will be better and I might give them a try although the Formula R1 is also very appealing and I still got a pair of brand new Magura Marta SL 2009's in box on my desk.

Just because the brakes are new doesn't mean that the fluid was fresh. It could've sat on the shelf for a while. I don't see what a torque wrench has to do with a bad bleed.

There are plenty of DHers that run Juicies. Many with fade issues resolved them with a fresh bleed.

Most of the reviews complain about noise/vibration. Many of these problems do come from improper setup.

I've got the retail R's. The only thing I'd want from the CR is the adjustable banjo.

I'm really on the fence between the R and CR. The only thing that's keeping me from dropping the extra coin on the CRs is the fugly (IMO) colorway. The red ano looks distracting, and while I know it shouldn't matter, it bugs me to no end.

I'm really on the fence between the R and CR. The only thing that's keeping me from dropping the extra coin on the CRs is the fugly (IMO) colorway. The red ano looks distracting, and while I know it shouldn't matter, it bugs me to no end.